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Happy Birthday ASA!

I am so humbled by all that we have accomplished together over the last 20 years. When we started Americans for Access, we were facing paramilitary style raids from the DEA, only 8 states had passed laws creating criminal exemptions for medical cannabis patients, the DEA was still saying that cannabis was a gateway drug and there was no legal access anywhere!

And look at the world that you have helped create!

Over the years you participated in raid-preparedness trainings for cannabis providers, protested during and after raids, participated in lawsuits of state agencies that refused to implement medical cannabis laws, worked with city and state governments to legalize medical cannabis distribution, sat in courtrooms to support for those being prosecuted, helped create product safety standards for our medicine, supported ASA’s efforts to work with doctors to create CME courses on cannabis therapeutics, to change the international scheduling of cannabis, to challenge the US scheduling through creative bureaucratic channels and the courts, to challenge misinformation from the DEA and cannabis, to create model legislation at the state and federal level, and to pass Federal legislation to stop the raids on medical cannabis!

Your work has helped millions of Americans! I couldn’t be prouder or more honored to work alongside each and every one of you!

For 20 years ASA has been coordinating a strategic plan to create safe access for all Americans and we have come a long way! But we still have some major hurdles to overcome to fulfill our mission: medical cannabis remains illegal federally, keeping these treatments out of reach for millions of Americans. The state-by-state compassionate use model leaves out those patients living in states reluctant to pass medical cannabis laws, federal employees and contractors, and veterans utilizing VA medical services.  In states with medical cannabis laws, this model does not address many medical or logistical needs for patients, only serving a privileged class of Americans. And in both regulated and unregulated markets, patients and their caregivers can’t depend on the quality of the cannabis products: free of contaminates, accurate labels or appropriate products.

Together, we envisioned a world in which patients would have access to safe and affordable cannabis-based therapeutics, let’s continue that journey! Please join me in renewing your commitment to ASA’s mission by donating or renewing your membership today!

Because until there is Safe Access…there is Americans for Safe Access!